LOGINNina's POV “Something's wrong?” I said as I bit down my nails. The twins were in bed and Frida was trying to calm me down. “Relax. I'm sure Liam's handling everything just fine,” She responded but I couldn't get it off my chest. “No. Everything is not fine, Frida. I keep thinking about it. Why would he send us here when we have tons of security at home?” She stayed silent for a while then started to look at me and I knew she understood what I meant. “See. Something is definitely wrong and I need to know what it is,” I said and continued pacing. “Stop doing that. You're going to give yourself a bad headache.” She said but I was too far gone to listen. I stopped and hit down on my lip, shook my head to get the fear out and when it didn't work, I picked my phone from the table. “I have to call him.”I dialed his number but it kept going right to voicemail and I panicked. “That's weird. His line never goes to voicemail.”“Maybe, he's busy. He could be at a meeting and you know he c
Liam's POVI dropped the phone onto the desk. Gideon stood by the door, still breathing hard, waiting for my next move."The team at the industrial site," I said, my voice dropping into a flat, dangerous coldness. "Did they breach?"Gideon hesitated and I wasn't having it. "Answer me." "They went in," Gideon answered, wiping sweat from his forehead.I groaned out in frustration. "Oh God. The order was not to breaxh until I gave the order. How hard is that to follow? Let the police dk their work and you have my men keep an eye on the others. What the fuck is wrong with you people?"Gideon tried to smoothen things over. "They used a standard perimeter check. But the rooms were empty. And even the police found nothing. Except..."My eyebrows furrowed and he spilled. "They found a burner phone left on the center table playing an audio loop.""Perfect. We met a dead end. How nice." I spat. I didn't need to ask what was on the audio loop. Xavier was playing us from the start. He lured Ric
Liam's POVI dropped the phone onto the desk. Gideon stood by the door, still breathing hard, waiting for my next move."The team at the industrial site," I said, my voice dropping into a flat, dangerous coldness. "Did they breach?"Gideon hesitated and I wasn't having it. "Answer me." "They went in," Gideon answered, wiping sweat from his forehead.I groaned out in frustration. "Oh God. The order was not to breaxh until I gave the order. How hard is that to follow? Let the police dk their work and you have my men keep an eye on the others. What the fuck is wrong with you people?"Gideon tried to smoothen things over. "They used a standard perimeter check. But the rooms were empty. And even the police found nothing. Except..."My eyebrows furrowed and he spilled. "They found a burner phone left on the center table playing an audio loop.""Perfect. We met a dead end. How nice." I spat. I didn't need to ask what was on the audio loop. Xavier was playing us from the start. He lured Ric
Liam's POVI fixated on the strip of the road as the vehicle sped towards the coordinates on the screen. The steady thrum of the wheel on the road absorbed me, or I would have yelled at Nina about what she had done.I stole a glance at Nina, who peered out the window as her fingers trailed absentmindedly across the edge of her phone, where the decrypted ledger glowed in the light."Something is wrong," I muttered, gripping the steering wheel.Nina turned her head to look at me, her brows coming together. "What are you talking about? We have the coordinates. The signal from the transponder is legitimate.""Xavier would not have left behind breadcrumbs for you to find within ten minutes."Nina fell silent, crossing her arms over her chest as she regarded me. "It's not a trap, Liam. First of all, it took longer than ten minutes to decrypt that file. Secondly, Gabe brought down those files before his chopper disappeared off the grid. Besides, if Xavier wanted to meet us, he would not have
Nina's POVRichard's shoulders twitched as he placed the palms of his hands on the wood of the table, his knuckles whiter than I'd ever seen them in person. He looked older in the light from the harsh conference room.His anger was leaching away as something raw and desperate took its place, and it made my own throat tighten.I cleared my throat, my hands pressed flat to the table surface like a poker player with a bad hand. "Mr. Bank, when was the last time you saw him?""Two hours before his departure," Richard muttered, his voice rough. "He called from his office to say he'd severed all ties with Xavier, left for two weeks in the north to clear his head of the man, but the tracking transponder on the chopper that went to pick him up died over the woods just outside the county line."I glanced at Liam, who was watching Richard with a strange tightness in his jaw, his black eyes calculating. The pieces were clicking together in a terrible progression in my head, and I wished suddenly
Nina's POVI stepped before Liam and Richard, but Liam instantly pulled at my arm, dragging me behind him."You can leave," Liam told Richard, his voice certain and his voice only strained as he spoke. "Tell me where you kept my son and I'll be gone.""I'll say this once, and I'll make it clear - He's not here," Liam answered."Lies!" Richard spat angrily. "My son was leaving for Spain and he should have arrived hours ago, but I can't reach him. It's either he's avoiding me which is highly unlikely or you two have him hidden.""And why would we do that?" Liam asked.Because... Richard's voice rose, but he stepped as his eyes darted towards me. His gaze remained on my face, not breaking contact until Liam touched my arm, silently telling me to be calm.I was calm, but my eyes softened as I saw Richard's hard gaze start to break. He was hurting and I understood how painful it was for a parent to lose a child.I stepped out from behind Liam, hearing his faint voice as I showed myself."N
Nina’s POV"No! Absolutely not!" I screamed as I stood up so fast I almost fell. "You can't do this! I won't marry him like this!""Shut your mouth, Nina!" my father roared, his face twisting into a look of pure hatred."Liam, say something!" Anya wailed, leaping from the sofa with her face red and
Nina’s POVThe loud scream seemed to snap away the fog in my brain as I scrambled off the bed in panic. I got up so quickly, I stumbled and almost fell face flat on the bed, but I barely caught myself to see I was still wearing the dress from last night.Liam however, was completely naked as I drag
Nina's POV Liam’s grip on my upper arms was unyielding as my small world spiraled out of control because of how close we were standing."Nina?" he breathed deeply. He looked just as startled as I was as his deep blue eyes scanned my face, which I knew was all red and puffy from all the crying, cou
Nina's POVWanna escape?" Frida’s question didn’t even land before I quickly accepted."Yes," I breathed, the word rushing out of me as my mood felt better instantly. "Yes, Frida, get me out of here.""I am shifting the car into drive so slip out through the side terrace by the gardens. The guards







